From Emery to Arteta, Could Chelsea Follow Arsenal’s Rebuild Path?
Let me make it clear to begin with, I’m not writing about the enormous debt that Chelsea have, nor am I talking about their off field disciplinary record.
I’m writing about, firstly, the fans and their relationship with the owners.
When Unai left Arsenal, the fanbase was so toxic regarding Mr Kroenke. Our fans were being described as losers, with Sky showing thousands of empty seats as said fans were streaming out of the Emirates before one particular match had finished.
The self same thing happened at Chelsea against Forest, but on a much larger scale.
Disconnect between fans, players and owners
There seemed to be no connection between the fans, the players and the owners. The football was dire and it seemed obvious to me that the players were not playing for the manager at either club.
The Arsenal owner, at the time Unai was sacked, had not really backed him with the kind of money needed to challenge for honours, while the Chelsea owners certainly have, so there is that difference.
However, our club then took a gamble on a complete rookie, when Mr Kroenke appointed Mikel Arteta. Chelsea are now in a similar position and it will be interesting to see who they decide to give the job of managing this group of, seemingly, disinterested players and what said manager will do to try and bring the club back together again.
Our owner deserves great credit for backing Arteta, both with time and money and Mikel has dragged our club back to where we are now, while taking many decisions that I, personally, felt were the wrong ones and said so quite passionately at the time.
But here we are, six seasons later, just a whisker away from winning the PL title for the first time in nearly two decades.
Can Chelsea follow Arsenal’s path?
Chelsea seem miles away from doing the same thing, with manager after manager failing to get to grips with the problems that never seem to go away.
They have players on six year contracts, who just seem to be going through the motions, and owners who, despite spending more than Mr Kroenke during this six year period, seem to have no idea what to do next.
Of course, they are very good at snapping up young players and they also sell on senior players at very good prices, but that is never going to heal the rift that they face in the immediate future.
Not qualifying for the Champions League is another big problem, especially when the likes of ourselves, City, Manchester United and, probably, either Liverpool or Villa will be earning big money and attracting the top players who demand Champions League football.
Now, we have, after three years of pain and misery, actually found ourselves a united club, both on and off the pitch.
The patience, time and money that Mr Kroenke has put into the club, along with the fans’ patience while enduring so many phases, we are on the cusp of something great and it has to be recognised that Mikel Arteta has been the driving force that has got us to where we are now.
Of course, we still might end up trophyless again and serious questions will then have to be asked.
But how long will it take Chelsea to be in the position we are today? What kind of manager will it take to sort out the same kind of mess we found ourselves in when Mr Kroenke took the gamble?
The progression of The Arsenal, both on and off the pitch, has been remarkable and I cannot see Chelsea being able to do the same, at least within the same time span of six seasons.
What are your thoughts on where Chelsea are today and how we have managed to get out of the same predicament?
Reader Opinion: ken1945
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